Gamma Ray Burst: The End of Cosmic Civilization, Potentially Causing Mass Extinction of Life

In the universe there is a terrible light that can penetrate all matter and destroy all life, this light was discovered by French physicist Paul Villard. While studying radioactive elements, he accidentally discovered a new type of ray that is stronger than X-rays. He named it gamma rays .

Man-made gamma rays are not the scariest thing. There is a phenomenon in the universe that can create gamma rays more powerful than humans can imagine, and that is the gamma ray burst. 

Gamma ray bursts are the most powerful electromagnetic radiation phenomena in the universe, they can release more energy in just a few seconds than the Sun can release in its entire lifetime.

Such energy is enough to destroy everything and even change the structure of the entire universe. The discovery of gamma rays has opened up a new horizon for humanity, allowing us to explore the deepest mysteries of the universe.

However, gamma rays are also a double-edged sword, which can bring both benefits and disasters to humanity.

Gamma ray bursts are the most powerful electromagnetic radiation phenomena in the universe.

The discovery of gamma-ray bursts was an unexpected bonus. In the 1960s, to monitor whether the Soviet Union was violating the treaty banning nuclear tests in space, the United States launched a series of satellites equipped with instruments capable of detecting gamma rays produced by nuclear explosions.

However, these satellites detected some gamma ray signals from deep in space, which were very strong but also very short-lived, lasting from a few milliseconds to a few minutes, and they moved in random directions and had no pattern. These signals were the first discoveries of gamma ray bursts.

Due to technical limitations at the time, the origin of these signals could not be determined and one can only speculate that they may have been related to the explosion of stars or the formation of black holes.

The discovery of these signals has aroused great interest in the scientific community and caused much speculation and debate. In order to better detect and study gamma-ray bursts, scientists have successively launched a number of dedicated satellites and telescopes such as the US Astronomical Satellite in 1974, the European Astronomical Satellite in 1983, the US Gamma-ray Observatory in 1991 and the US Astronomical Observatory in 1991, the Gamma-ray Observatory in 2004, the European International Gamma-ray Observatory and the US Swift satellite in 2008, etc.

The discovery of gamma-ray bursts was an unexpected bonus.

These satellites and telescopes can not only detect gamma rays but also detect electromagnetic radiation in other bands produced by gamma ray bursts, such as X-rays, visible light, radio waves, etc. Through these satellites and telescopes, scientists have detected thousands of gamma ray bursts.

After decades of observation and analysis, scientists have discovered that there are two possible causes for the creation of gamma-ray bursts.

1. The first is a very large star that explodes as a supernova as it ages, forming a black hole. During this process, the interior of the star will gradually collapse and a high-speed rotating disk-like structure called an accretion disk will form on the outside. The matter in the accretion disk will continue to be swallowed by the black hole, while two high-speed streams of matter called jets will be ejected from the two poles of the black hole. In the jet, a large amount of gamma-ray radiation is produced due to the impact of shock waves and strong magnetic fields. This type of gamma-ray burst usually lasts for a short time, only a few seconds, so it is also called a short-duration gamma-ray burst.
2. The second type is the merger of two very dense objects, such as black holes or neutron stars. Both of these objects are the remains of dead stars. When they get close enough, they attract each other and eventually collide to form a larger black hole. During this process, an accretion disk and two jets are also created, which produce gamma-ray radiation. This type of gamma-ray burst usually lasts for a long time, minutes or even hours, so it is also called a prolonged gamma-ray burst. After further scientific research, scientists discovered that gamma-ray bursts do not only occur deep in the universe.

According to scientists' calculations, in the billions of years of Earth's history, about every 5 million years, the Earth will face a catastrophic disaster caused by a gamma-ray burst . This means that since the birth of life on Earth, it has experienced the explosion and destruction of more than 1,000 gamma-ray bursts. For many people, the only event that can compare to the destruction of life on Earth in their memory and awareness is the collision with an asteroid about 65 million years ago.

Every 5 million years or so, the Earth faces a catastrophe caused by a gamma-ray burst.

However, scientists today tell us that asteroid impacts can be considered almost insignificant compared to gamma ray bursts. Through in-depth study and research into Earth's history, scientists have discovered some evidence.

Five of the most severe biological extinction events have occurred in Earth's history, the most significant of which was the Ordovician mass extinction . Previously, scientists only speculated that the main cause of this extinction was the abrupt change in Earth's climate from warm to cold, which eventually led to death.

However, scientists remained puzzled as to what caused the sudden drop in Earth's temperature. Until recently, a joint team of biologists and physicists made a major discovery of trilobite fossils from the Ordovician period. They found clear evidence of exposure to gamma rays in the fossils.

This discovery provides scientists with an answer to why the Earth's temperature plummeted at that time. As gamma-ray bursts passed through the Earth's atmosphere, they interacted with molecules in the atmosphere, triggering a series of chemical reactions that led to the destruction of the ozone layer in the atmosphere. This exposed organisms on the Earth's surface to deadly ultraviolet radiation, leading to large-scale biological extinction events.

 Gamma rays pass through the Earth's atmosphere, causing a series of chemical reactions that lead to the destruction of the ozone layer.

Although gamma rays are very destructive, they are also widely used and play an important role in industry and medicine . In industry, the penetrating ability of gamma rays makes them a very useful tool. By using gamma rays, we can probe the inside of metals and other objects, even very thick materials can be clearly seen by gamma rays.

This non-destructive testing method is extremely valuable in quality control, texture evaluation, and product inspection. Gamma rays also play an important role in the medical field. In radiotherapy, using the penetrating power of gamma rays, doctors can precisely target high doses of radiation to cancer cells to kill them or inhibit their growth.

Gamma rays could be used as a tool to detect dark matter and dark energy.

While using gamma rays, the scientific community has also detected gamma ray bursts in the universe. Gamma ray bursts are the most violent explosions in the universe , they can help us understand the origin, structure and evolution of the universe as well as the physical processes of celestial objects such as stars, black holes and gravitational waves.

They can also be used as tools to detect dark matter and dark energy in the universe, as they can penetrate the dense interstellar medium to reach distant galaxies. It helps us understand the mysteries of the universe and assess their potential threats to life on Earth, providing reference for future prevention and response.